Lee Thomas Finds Gainful Employment in this Putrid Economy

And now for some news that isn’t regarding everyone we love being broken up and shipped off somewhere.

You remember Lee Thomas, don’t you?  That madman who orchestrated that 1993 team maybe you’ve heard about in your life?  He has the unfortunate statistic of being one of the only people on earth whose ever been replaced by Ed Wade.

Well, Lee’s signed on to whatever they’re planning in Baltimore, and if his track record is any indication, he’ll be a part of some fairly significant deal, and then kind of disappear into the wind.  Which is a tough trick.  He’s not a small person.

But this gives an opportunity to think back on the executives of our past.  So often, it is easy to think that Ruben Amaro is an omnipresent, absolute force who has always been here puppeteering our very existence.  We think that because that is what he wants us to think; he pumps the notion into our subconscious like warm fluids.  It’s gross.

While we still have the ability to think independently, let us reminisce about what it was like before the Smug Meter was a thing.

It was pretty terrible.  Remember those losing seasons that came after ’93.  I do.  I really, really do.  I had hoped they would turn into a boring, mediocre-at-best blur, but I feel like I can remember every tick of the clock while that was happening.

I have one very distinct memory of a news article about how upset Gregg Jefferies was that the Phillies traded Todd Zeille, and I thought “Hey, that’s cool that he’s displaying such emotion,” but then I remember immediately thinking, “Whoa, how are we supposed to win the World Series with all these losses?!”

So, Lee Thomas, you gave us a gift one year.  Of course, Lee brought in Mitch Williams, too, so you could argue he was hoisted by his own petard.

Point is, he’s been able to find work since and now, that work is in Baltimore with Dan Duquette as they take the wheel of a franchise that’s been in mid-crash since the late ’90s.